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I bought an elastic belt at of all places the Aldi grocery store, on a whim, and it has worked well... I am not overweight by much, 5-10, 190lbs, and it does fine on my 36" waist. You can also get nylon webbing in any length, color, style, thickness, or width, along with buckles, at Strapworks.com.

Glenn, I know your comment wasn't directed specifically at me, but I was going to go look it up anyway, and here's the quote I'm talking about... it's from Townsend Whelen's book "On Your Own in the Wilderness", and i think the copyright is around 1960, toward the end of his life. Anyway...

I've run the riffle between Turtle and Slang Ponds on my own (1 inch drop in elevation, 50' long, maybe, for those unfamiliar), and was in the front of a canoe steered by a much older and experienced Scout on a trip down the Delaware River about 45 years ago... I theoretically know how to steer...

I thought Shackleton was crazy (for polar exploration), but he did apparently say "there's no such thing as bad weather, only improper clothing". And I tend to go camping when a lot of other folks won't... I go because I planned to, and took the time off work, and have the skills to stay warm...

The biggest "trick" I have is to take my time and do it right.... normal fire prep involves double handfuls each of pencil-lead, pencil, thumb, and wrist-sized wood. Rainy prep should be double that, triple if you have time. I try to acquire a good stash of birchbark, and once you get it...

I created a first aid kit a few years back and have pretty much stuck with its contents since then. Fits in a Mentos container... several bandaids, a couple Q-tips, a pair of tweezers, tick key, and a few tablets each of Motrin, Pepto, Immodium, Zyrtec, Benadryl, and a sample packet of...

I didn't respond, because it depends on the canoe... In my Hemlock Nessmuk XL, it's a seated solo, and I use the double almost all the time, except for the times I get into a really narrow, brushy channel and break my paddle down, which isn't really so much paddling as it is "getting out of the...

If this is going to end up similar to the one we did a couple years back on Little Tupper, it was most excellent... I won't be able to commit until closer to time. (New job, lots of travel, sudden changes to schedule.)

I absolutely prefer a wood fire in front of a properly sited Plowpoint tarp shelter or Whelen lean-to, but have backups. Pretty much any trip will warrant a tiny, almost weightless alcohol stove and at least a 6 oz bottle of fuel, just in case, for the rainy days, or if I get soaked and need...

Depends where I'm going and who I'm with... but yes, I've carried a shotgun, especially when with my young daughter. I have a dim view of what others can do to me, though I have seldom been afraid of most of my fellow canoe trippers, especially "way back".

Down top quilts, sometimes with a thin summer bag underneath in the winter, to block the drafts better.

I will try out a new tarp under the sprinkler, and will sleep test a new quilt in the backyard overnight, but I've had my gear dialed in for a few years and don't do much 'testing' anymore. But I definitely advocate doing it in the yard first, before using something 'in the woods'... better to...

I typically use an old Kool-Aid container for a bowl and use an old blue foam pad for the insulation. Here are a couple of variations I've tried over the years, including a Titan Kettle, and some thinner green foam.

I read a lot of old-timey literature, and sometimes forget who said what, but I remember someone mentioning a contest between two groups of Indian packers, with the winner being a guy who tumplined 850 620 lbs of flour the required 50 or 100 yards... that was in one load. (Whelen or Miller...

I've got a couple... Woke up one morning in LA, camped on a hill... fog filled the valley, and the mist had settled on the thousands of spider webs in the brush around me. Looked like I was surrounded by jellyfish. Surreal. An encounter with a bear in 2009 remains with me, and is...

Big trip next year (22) isn't canoeing, but a car trip with side hikes to Grand Teton and Yellowstone in Late May/Early June. If possible, I'd like to get up to the St Regis in early May for a long weekend for some trout fishing before the punkies come. The summer plans will depend on...

I'm a reader... I even skip news stories on the internet if they're videos... So I like a trip report that's a story, with pics. thanks for asking.

My experience is pretty limited to a few places in TX and LA, and the western Adirondacks, so I don't really have a top 5. But my top one so far is easy... When I die, I want the haunt the St Regis Canoe Wilderness... Kit Fox Pond especially... that's heaven. Especially in April/early May, or...

Water (on a day trip when I was relying on that bottle, and not carrying a filter.) Paddles... Had no choice but to leave my canoe hidden in the woods off the highway and run 3 miles back to the house to get them. Seat. This is not a good thing in a sit-in solo. Fortunately, i forgot it at a...

When I built my stitch and glue Eureka 155 (actually making it a 145), I just cut 6" off each center, essentially removing a foot from the middle of the design... It worked. If I were to tamper with a stripper, I'd ask here, as you have done.